Collapsible or deformable tube



June 2. I925 1,539,823

F. E. BALDWIN COLLAPSIBLE OR DEFOHMABLE TUBE Filed April 5, 1924 .& lllllllllllllllllllllll w/ r/vEss .HTTOIPNEYJ Patented June 2, 1925.

UNITED STATES- FREDEBIC E. BALDWIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COLLAPSIBLE O-R DEFOiRMABLE TUBE.

Application filed April 5, 1924. Serial No. 704,369.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC E. BALD- WIN a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible or Deformable Tubes, of which the .following is a specifica tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to collapsible or do formable tubes or containers for containing paste materials, such as toothpaste and shaving. cream, intended for frequent use in small quantities, the paste material being forced in the desired quantity from the tube through a neck opening by manual pressure upon the body of the tube. A removable and replaceable cap for the neck seals or closes the opening when the tube is not in use.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a collapsible or deformable tube to which the cap is permanently secured whereby the dropping, or misplacement, or loss of the cap after it is removed from the neck are prevented.

Another principal object of my invention is to provide forthe manufacture of caps adapted for use on collapsible tubes of this type whereby economy and speed of production over other processes are secured.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel means for permanently securing the cap to the tube. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a cap permanently secured to a collapsible tube which forms an air-tight seal to the contents of the tube.

A further object of my invention is to provide a collapsible tube with a cap permanently secured thereto in which the parts may be assembled with minimum labor.

The foregoing as well as various other objects and novel features of construction and arrangement comprehended by my invention will be more fully apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in connection with the drawings forming a part hereof.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the collapsible or deformable tube with the cap shown secured thereto and provided with my device manently secured to tubes of this type; Fig.

5 is a view in elevation of the completed cap with the retaining device in engagement there vith and illustrates the Second step; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the collapsible tube, partly in section, showing a pair of upstruck or exuded lugs upon the body of the tube between which the outer end of the retaining means is secured; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the top of the tube with the cap and retaining de vice secured thereto and illustrates the third and final step. The same numerals are used to designate corresponding parts in the several figures.

In the drawings, the collapsible tube 1, which may be made of any suitable material such as block tin, comprises a body portion 2 and an exteriorly threaded neck 8. A cap 4, having interior threads 5, is adapted tobe threaded onto the neck and ,forms the closure for the tube. Said cap 4 is provided with a head 6 and a flanged portion 7 at the bottom thereof, both of which are of larger diameter than the shank 8. While the head 6 is shown as circular, it may be of any desired shape provided that a horizontal section thereof is greater than the horizontal section of the shank 8 whereby the removal or disengagement of the retainer from the cap is prevented, the flange 7 being of largerdiameter than the diameter of the shank 8 and operating to prevent removal or slipping off of the retainer at the bottom of the cap.

My retaining device comprises a piece of suitable wire, one end 9 of which is formed into a llllg 0ll01l0llllg, wholly or in part,

the shank 8 which is cndwise movable and rotatable therein to permit the unscrewing of the cap, and the other end of which is bent downwardly from the ring or portion 9 and is formed into a loop or stirrup 10.

Upon the conical top 11 of the tube, preferably near the rim thereof and in substantially parallel alignment therewith, are a ever, about its axis.

After the cap 4 has been unscrewed from the neck '3 to the position shown in Fig. 2, the retaining means, carrying the cap 4, may be moved about its hinge and the cap held in any desired position to permit the com tentsof the tube to be forced from the neck 3 as desired. The frictional engagement between the loop 10 and the lugs 12-12 may be such as to enable the cap to be held at any positionin the arc of its movement about the hinge.

In making caps for tubes, a mold having its bottom portion removable is provided and the material from which the cap is formed is placed in the mold; a plunger having a threaded mandrel then is forced downwardly into the mold under heavy pressure, forcing the material into the mold form and as the plunger is withdrawn the threaded portion thereof rotates and unscrews itself from the thread which has been formed in the interiorof the shank of the cap. The

bottom of the mold is then removed and the finished cap is pushed down and out of the mold. By this method, however, it is impossible to produce a flange on the bottom I of the cap and the practice heretofore has been to mold the cap with a shank having anextra thick wall and then cut away with a lathe a portion of the exterior of the shank wall between the ends of the shank, thereby making the middle portion of the shank a groove of less diameter than the end portions thereof. This method of making the caps adapted for use with retaining devices is almost prohibitively expensive. Another method of-making caps provided with a groove between a head and a flange upon the lower end portion adapted for this use, is by making them in a suitable mold which openstbut this has been found even more,

' expensive than the method just described.

A disadvantage common to both of these methods is that the ring of wire must be sprung'over thefbase or head of the cap onto better method for the manufacture of caps the shank which, frequently distorts the wire and is a slow and expensive operation. In my invention I have provided for a adaptedto be permanently secured to collapsible tubes. I preferably use "blocktin as cap are made and I first form the cap by molding in the shape illustrated in Fig. 3. Upon the cap thus formed I then drop or slip the ring 9 of my retainer over the bottom of the shank, as shown in Fig. 4, and then form a flange 7 on the lower end of the shank by a stamping, spinning or other suitable operation (see Fig. 5), the ring 9 being held against removal from the cap by the head 6 and the flange 7 The cap with. the retainer thereto attached is then secured to the tube 1 by dropping the loop 10 be tween the lugs 1212, the upper ends of which are then forced toward each other whereby the loop is securely held against removal. By makingv the engagement between the loop and the lugs fairly snug, the retainer and the cap carried thereby may be held in any point of' the arc of its swing about the hinge by reason of the frictional contact between the loop and the lugs. It

will be understood, however, that, if desired, the retainer may be attached to the cap by bending it about, the cap or by forcing it'over the head or flange. While I have shown a pair of lugs by which the retainer is secured to the tube in the manner above described, it will be understood that but one lug may be used if desired and bent upon itself'about the loop 10 to form a suitable hinge connection.

Thile I have is capable of numerous modifications in con-.

struction, design and arrangement of parts the material from which the tube and the herein described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my in-,

and I therefore do not thereby desire or intend to limit myself specifically to the precise forntof invention so illustrated and described as suitable modifications and changes may be 'made therein if desired without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim and desireto protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

. 1. A method of forming a collapsible tube having a semi-rigid breast portion which consists in striking-up or exuding a pair of closely adjacent lugs on said breast portion, placingthe pintle por-' hin e lug on a for collapsible tubes having depending shank of smaller diameter han r the head andof an enlarged portion constituting a flange at the bott m of the shank,

a wire retainer encircling the shank and adapted to move on the. shank parallel with the axis of the shank, and a lug on the breast of the tube adapted to be closed over to hold the wire retainer movably secured to the breast of the tube.

A closure for collapsible tubes having a screw threaded neck, a screw threaded cap adapted to engage said neck, the cap consisting of an enlarged head, a cylindrical depending shank of smaller diameter than the head and of an enlarged portion constituting a flange at the bottom of the shank, and a Wire retainer encircling the shank and adapted to move on the shank parallel with the axis of the shank, the end of the wire being attached to the container.

4. A method of forming a hinge lug on collapsible tube having a semi-rigid breast portion which consists in striking up or exuding a lug member on said breast portion, placing the pintle portion of a carv retainer in operative relation to the lug member, and then bending the lug member so as to form an eye for said pintle portion.

In witness whereof I have-hereunto set my hand this 4th day of April, 1924.

FREDERIC E. BALDWIN. 

